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As David wrote, my computer’s power supply became unreliable. Also, there was no free Internet access at the Westin, with the exception of the GeekBuzz stations set up for rating games, which I couldn’t really hog to do my blogging. So here’s a bit more about the rest of the con.
A number of designers stopped by to take pictures, explain their games, or just play. Richard Breese was there to explain the new Board Game Geek game. I saw Jason Matthews, and many others. Unfortunately, I don’t hang out at the secret designers’ club, so I don’t know them all. Yet. I’m getting there.
Gaming continued non-stop from Wed afternoon until I left on Sunday afternoon, well after the library was closed. The entire three days of fun and gaming ran about as smooth as a con like this can; smoother, even. Biggest Geekbuzz: Hansa Teutonica, Dungeons Lords, Stronghold, At the Gates of Loyang, Dominion, Race for the Galaxy, Small World, Endeavor, the new Agricola, the new Power Grid (Factory Manager), Shipyard, Tobago, Through the Ages, Greed, Carson City, Battlestar Galactica, Automobile, Castle Panic, probably others. And lots and lots of Tichu, especially as the evenings or the con wore down.
Throughout the con there was a silly photo shoot going on. Two photographers spent the entire time trying to get people to pose as ridiculously as possible; the most ridiculous is supposed to get a GeekGold award. I doubt anyone is going to beat Derk with some woman’s hand up his kilt.
The wizard trading game I ran came to a close on Sunday morning, with three winners receiving big box prizes. The night before, dozens of really big box prize packages were handed out in a raffle. And right before that, the Golden Geek awards were given out. Winners were: Space Alert, the Pandemic expansion, Space Hulk 3 Ed, Sorry Sliders, Dominion, Times Up Deluxe, Combat Commander Pacific, Pandemic, Le Havre, and for game of year, Dominion.
I missed the poker tournaments, the Saturday morning flea market, the late night Werewolf games, Rock Band: Beatles and other sparse video gaming, and many other events.
One note about Thoughthammer’s vendor area: I promised them that rather than mercilessly make fun of them for their organization that I would only mercifully make fun of them, seeing as it was their first con presence and they donated games and offered games at the same prices as their web site, which was a fantastic deal for most games.
What was the problem? The problem was that the line was ssssssssssssssllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww. And why was it slow? Because every time someone made it to the front of the line, the TH rep would bring up the TH web site on his or her laptop and begin browsing for the item, checking the price (none of the items at the con had prices on them), and then add it to a cart. Then he or she would check out through the online cart and select no shipping. They did this even for cash orders.
OMG.
They didn’t have a price list. They couldn’t simply take money or credit cards and then enter all the sales in one go after the area closed? They didn’t even keep a pencil and paper handy so that they could tell someone how much a game cost, even after the fiftieth time that someone else asked about the same damn game; they would turn back to their computer and start browsing for that item again.
Thank you for coming, participating, and donating, Thoughthammer, but please. Next time let someone with a brain organize your vendor presence.
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Some people just have no planning skills.
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